


An Admiral out of Time

by miniwhoasked



Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars: Battlefront (Video Games), Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hyperspace Shenanigans, I made this prompt in the shower lmao, Reformed Stormtroopers (Star Wars), Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miniwhoasked/pseuds/miniwhoasked
Summary: Pellaeon stood on the bridge of the Chimaera, sunk in the blissful calm of hyperspace. An officer from the pit called out:“Sir, we’re entering the Asar system.”“Excellent,” Pellaeon replied, “keep me updated on our progress.”“Will do, sir.”A few minutes more of blessed silence broken only by the tapping-on-datapads of the bridge crew passed, before one of the officers in the pit--the hyperspace technician--called out some bad news.“Sir, we’re being pulled out of hyperspace!”orA time-travel fic where the travelers help to save the Republic and leave their regrets in their own timeline.
Relationships: Adi Gallia/CC-8826 | Neyo, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Luminara Unduli, Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo & Barton Coburn
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I noticed a disturbing(ish) lack of time travel fics that don't involve Jedi, so I decided to do something about it. Enjoy my first attempt at a time travel fic and interpreting the multiverse theory.

Pellaeon stood on the bridge of the  _ Chimaera _ , sunk in the blissful calm of hyperspace. An officer from the pit called out:

“Sir, we’re entering the Asar system.”

“Excellent,” Pellaeon replied, “keep me updated on our progress.”

“Will do, sir.”

A few minutes more of blessed silence broken only by the tapping-on-datapads of the bridge crew passed, before one of the officers in the pit--the hyperspace technician--called out some bad news.

“Sir, we’re being pulled out of hyperspace!”

The _Chimera_ and its accompanying ships were drawn out of hyperspace by an interdiction field from a cruiser stationed above Ilum. Pellaeon grabbed his comm unit and called Thrawn, telling him to come up to the bridge immediately.

“Sir,” the communications officer called out, “the ship is hailing us.”

“Put it through,” Pellaeon directed, straightening his posture.

_ “This is Admiral Coburn of the Republic Navy. Unidentified vessel, identify yourself.” _

“I am Captain Pellaeon of the Empire of the Hand. This is the Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer  _ Chimaera _ .”

Thrawn crept up onto the bridge, listening to the conversation. He crouched down to look into the ‘pit, beckoning for the comms officer to look at him.

“Put it through on the monitor.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thrawn stood up and walked to just in front of Captain Pellaeon as Admiral Coburn’s image morphed into life on the call monitor that was lowering itself from the roof of the bridge. The Chiss’ gold pauldrons glowing in the light of the bridge, his image being projected onto Admiral Coburn’s bridge

“I wish to come meet with you, Admiral,” Thrawn greeted, “I shall send myself on a shuttle.”

“Very well,” Coburn agreed, “we shall greet you with traditional Republic hospitality.”

The monitor shut off and Thrawn began to speak to Captain Pellaon:

“You are in charge, Captain. I shall take my squad of Death Troopers.”


	2. Malevolence Sold Separately

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Lambda-class shuttle touched down in the hangar of the Triumphant, Thrawn and his four Death Trooper bodyguards stood waiting. As the ramp lowered itself, the five walked down into the main hangar of Jedi High General Plo Koon’s flagship.
> 
> \---
> 
> “The superweapon you are facing is the Malevolence. It has a powerful Ion cannon that will shut off your shields. Personally, I recommend hyperspacing in and putting your ships into a Marg Sabl formation.”  
> Thrawn adjusted the holomap shown on both sides of the holocall, demonstrating what a Marg Sabl looks like.  
> “And we would do that so the effectiveness of the Ion cannon is reduced,” Admiral Coburn guessed.

As the  _ Lambda _ -class shuttle touched down in the hangar of the  _ Triumphant _ , Thrawn and his four Death Trooper bodyguards stood waiting. As the ramp lowered itself, the five walked down into the main hangar of Jedi High General Plo Koon’s flagship.

The five stopped short across from Admiral Coburn, Commander Wolffe, Boost, Sinker, and Master Plo Koon. 

“Good day,” Master Plo greeted, arms crossed.

“Likewise,” Thrawn replied calmly, arms loose at his side.

“I think it best to not delay,” Plo continued, turning and beckoning them to follow to a conference room.

The ten humanoids filed into one of the Venator’s large briefing rooms, complete with a rectangular table surrounded by swivel chairs. The five Republic persons slid into chairs at one end, Admiral Coburn at the head, and the five Imperials took the ones opposite, Thrawn facing Coburn.

“You say you’re from the Empire of the Hand,” Commander Wolffe began, “what’s the Empire of the Hand?”

“The Empire of the Hand is a military organisation from the Unknown Regions, founded to defend the galaxy from extragalactic threats.”

“And how was it founded?”

Thrawn smiled, a smile forming on his face.

“I’m not sure you’d want to know, Commander.”

“Why would that be?”

“It would seem your interdictor has pulled us from the future.”

The five GAR persons shifted uncomfortably in their seats, each leaning forward a little. 

“Did you say from the future?”

“I did, Trooper. Judging by the markings on your armour, we are before the Battle of Abregado, which would place us squarely in the year 22 BBY. My fleet was previously in the year 35 BBY enroute to the remains of Starkiller Base in the Asar System.”

Admiral Coburn cut in: “You say you command a fleet, and I recognize Republic rank cubes, but you never told me your rank.”

Thrawn lifted his rank cubes off his shirt, sliding them across the table to the GAR side.

“Check them, Admiral.”

Coburn reached for the datapad Wolffe had been carrying and opened the clearance submenu, navy version. He scanned the cubes with the datapad’s rear camera, and saw Aurebesh that he had never before.

“Huh,” he finally said, “I don’t recognize the rank of Grand Admiral from the Academy, but the datapad seems to.”

“Of course,” Thrawn offered, “the rank was created at the onset of the Clone Wars, but not awarded until two years before the Battle of Yavin.”

“And how does it fit into the command structure of the GAR?”

“From my interpretation of it, Admiral, the Grand Admirals answer only to the Chancellor, and I believe its status would be equal, if not greater, than High General of the Republic.” Thrawn paused briefly, “However, this is only speculation. I would need to speak to the Chancellor himself to confirm this.”

“Very well,” Plo Koon affirmed, “we shall return to Coruscant promptly.”

The ten humanoids filed out of the briefing room, heading for the bridge.

  
  


+++

Thrawn looked around at all the genetically identical bridge officers, wondering how such perfect soldiers were so easily cast aside for natborns. He inclined himself slightly to his left, looking past Admiral Coburn so he could easily speak to him.

“It’s such a shame how easily the Emperor cast aside such perfect soldiers,” he began.

“Why do you say that, Grand Admiral?”

“After the end of the Clone Wars, the clones were phased out for naturally-born soldiers. I lost a battle above Atollon because my natborn human officer let his lust for glory overtake his orders. A clone would not have done that.”

“I see.”

The two naval officers turned and strolled out of the bridge, talking shop.

“What are the ships under your command, Admiral?”

“I have this ship, the  _ Triumphant _ , its sister ship, the  _ Victorious _ , another Venator called the  _ Camaraderie _ , and the  _ Notch-One _ , the interdictor that pulled you from lightspeed.”

“Interesting... “ Thrawn noted, “you have no light cruisers or transports?”

“No,” Coburn replied, “most of the cruisers currently available have been assigned to the Open Circle Fleet of Admiral Yularen.”

“I see.”

“And what ships do you have, Grand Admiral?”

“I have my flagship, the  _ Chimera _ , the  _ Admonitor _ , and the  _ Csilla _ . Those three are Imperial-II class star destroyers. I also have an Arquitens II-Class light cruiser, the  _ Navarro _ , and an Imperial escort carrier, the  _ Bespin _ .”

“If I could, once we reach Coruscanti orbit, I’d like to tour your vessels. I have only heard of the Arquitens cruiser, and would like to know how your others work, if you are to be serving the Republic Navy.”

“That can be arranged.”

+++

Thrawn had traveled back to his ship, leaving Admiral Coburn to his tasks. Him, Plo Koon, and Commander Wolffe stood around a holotable, speaking with Republic High Command.

“Something interesting to report, you do, Master Plo?” Yoda asked, his holo-form turning slightly.

“Indeed,” Plo replied, “a mysterious blue-skinned man has arrived during our tests of the interdictor. He holds a non-existent rank but his authority is recognized by the clone troopers. He said he came from the future, 57 years from now.”

“Hmm,” Yoda replied, thinking intensely.

“Did you happen to catch his name?” Chancellor Palpatine asked.

“Yes,” Admiral Coburn replied, “he said his name was  Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Empire of the Hand.”

Wolffe then cut it: “and sir, his rank cubes check out. He’s a Republic military officer of the rank Grand Admiral, equal to a Jedi High General.”

“I think we should speak to him later, but, in the meantime, link up with his fleet and travel to the Abregado System,” Master Luminara Unduli intervened, stalling the impending disagreement between the chancellor and Commander Wolffe.

“Indeed,” Yoda echoed, “tracked the new Separatist superweapon to the Abregado system, we have. Utilise the interdictor to prevent it from escaping, you will, hmm?”

“Very well,” Plo affirmed, “we shall go.”

The holotable shut off and the three turned out of the briefing room. Wolffe activated his wrist comm.

“Captain Pellaeon,” he began, “we are to travel to the Abregado system to track down a Separatist superweapon. We would appreciate some assistance from your fleet.”

“Very well,” the captain responded, “confer with the Grand Admiral, work on a strategy. If I remember my Clone Wars history, you need a better strategy than just throwing your fleet at them.”

“Well then.”

+++

“The superweapon you are facing is the  _ Malevolence _ . It has a powerful Ion cannon that will shut off your shields. Personally, I recommend hyperspacing in and putting your ships into a Marg Sabl formation.”

Thrawn adjusted the holomap shown on both sides of the holocall, demonstrating what a Marg Sabl looks like.

“And we would do that so the effectiveness of the Ion cannon is reduced,” Admiral Coburn guessed.

“Yes. If you are able to hold the attention of the  _ Malevolence _ , my group will be able to hyperspace behind it and utterly obliterate it.”

“How can we be certain we won’t be ripped to shreds?” Commander Wolffe asked.

“Their turbolasers are of a low enough yield that you must be close to them for them to be effective,” Thrawn countered, “from what I’ve read of Grievous, he’ll get cocky and try and press the attack. A Marg Sabl would allow you not only to keep the bridge safe, but to stealthily launch fighters to harass the ship while we make our entrance.”

“Then it is decided,” Plo concluded, “we will launch the attack in four standard hours.”

The holocall ended and everyone went to their designated stations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out Ahsoka actually invented the Marg Sabl lmao
> 
> You learn so much on Wookiepedia


	3. The Blissful Calm of Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The detachment of the Fifth Fleet raced through hyperspace in perfect unison, closing in on the Abregado System, having left twenty standard minutes before the remains of Thrawn’s Seventh Fleet. The three Venators shot out of hyperspace, using their momentum to create a three-ship Marg Sabl, the ventral sides of each facing the Malevolence’s port side. 
> 
> \---
> 
> “She vehemently insisted you were only friends, Commander,” Thrawn calmly replied, “is that a fair assessment?”

The detachment of the Fifth Fleet raced through hyperspace in perfect unison, closing in on the Abregado System, having left twenty standard minutes before the remains of Thrawn’s Seventh Fleet. The three Venators shot out of hyperspace, using their momentum to create a three-ship Marg Sabl, the ventral sides of each facing the Malevolence’s port side. 

Two wings of ARC-170s, two wings of V-19 Torrents, and a certain blue Delta-7 exited the  _ Triumphant _ ’s ventral hangar, hiding in the shadow of the ship. The  _ Malevolence  _ began to charge its Ion cannon, and the 25 starfighters made a dash for safety. The Ion blast spread over the three Venators, and the opposing dreadnought began to fire. Luckily, the ships were at such a range that the plasma blasts of the  _ Malevolence _ only glanced off the shieldless Venators as they worked to reboot their systems.

The Seventh Fleet arrived behind the  _ Malevolence _ and scrambled three wings of TIE fighters, along with a set of TIE Defenders. The high-yield turbolasers immediately began firing on the CIS ship with devastating effectiveness. Within seconds, the engines and hyperdrive were pulverized, leaving the ship dead in the proverbial water.

Four Lambda-class shuttles and an additional three wings of TIE Defenders took off from the  _ Chimera _ , the combined 100 troopers joined by three LAAT gunships carrying some of the Wolfpack. The eight shuttles and 18 fighters landed in the port hangar of the  _ Malevolence _ , the guns on the front of the LAAT easily dispatching the droid patrol in the hangar. 

The clones and stormtroopers split into four teams, 34 each. One was to find any seppie plans, one was to take General Plo and track down Grievous, one was to take over the bridge and send a transmission to the council, and one was to clean up any droids. 

+++

The four teams had no issues. Grievous’ fighter had been shot down attempting to flee, and the clones had secured vital seppie intel about their hit list. They’d also found an archived holotransmission between Count Dooku and a mysterious hooded figure who seemed so familiar…

Thrawn, Coburn, Wolffe, and Pellaeon stood in the centre of the Jedi High Council Room. Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Adi Gallia, and Ki-Adi Mundi were on-planet, with the rest of the councillors calling in. 

“Grand Admiral,” Yoda began, “a pleasure it is, to finally meet you.”

“Likewise, General,” he calmly replied.

“Learned much from the  _ Malevolence,  _ have you?”

“Yes,” Thrawn replied calmly, “we have discovered Separatist plans to attack the Kaliida Shoals medical station in the outer rim.”

“Have a plan to deal with it, do you?”   
“Yes, I do. We should station the interdictor cruiser above Naboo, and draw the separatist fleet towards it. I am in possession of a miniaturized W-165 Planetary Turbolaser called the Orbital Autocannon that we could set up on-planet to destroy the incoming forces.”

“And why should we trust you?” Ki-Adi Mundi demanded, “you just appeared a few days ago, and now you’re planning battles for us.”

“Need I remind you, General, that I am officially a member of the Republic Navy?” Thrawn shot back as calm as ever, “all that I previously fought for was taken away from me because of a malfunction in your interdictor prototype, and yet you have the  _ audacity  _ to question my loyalty? I seek not glory, but only results. I’ll get you your results, General.”

An eerie silence descended over the council chambers, none of the military officers breaking their perfect at-attention stance.

+++

Thrawn and Master Adi Gallia strolled through one of the hangars attached to the Jedi Temple, deep in conversation.

“I do hope the mission goes well, Grand Admiral,” she encouraged, “I’d hate for something like this to go awry.”

“As do I, General,” Thrawn replied, “but I believe something unforeseen will happen. The anniversary of the Battle of Naboo is upcoming, and I believe General Plo’s interdictor may act up again.”

“Regardless, I have attached part of the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps to this mission,” Adi replied, “and I’d hate to lose Commander Neyo already.”

“I know many Jedi generals cared deeply about their commanders,” Thrawn evenly deflected, “I take it you are no exception.”

“Perhaps the future holds great things,” Adi countered, “but for now we are only friends.”

Both humanoids stopped in perfect lockstep, eyes searching for the source of a noise they heard. To their surprise, the noise was Luminara Unduli’s lightsaber clattering to the floor not too far from where they were standing. Judging by the position of General Kenobi’s knee, he was clearly the one who knocked it off. Adi quickly pressed the video record button hidden in her wrist comlink and pointed the camera hidden inside said comlink over towards where the two Jedi Masters were standing.

“Aayla’s gonna be rich!” Adi exclaimed, “we had a betting pool and she was the only one to even think of that.”

“Most interesting,” Thrawn commented, “I assume the most bets were on the Duchess of Mandalore?”

“You’d be right in that assumption, Admiral,” she replied, “regardless, I wish you luck on your mission.”

As she began to turn away, Thrawn spoke: “I shall endeavour to bring home your beloved commander unharmed.”

“It’s not-” she started before realizing Thrawn had already left.

+++

The Orbital Autocannon was so large that it had to be kept in the belly of an Acclamator to be shipped to Naboo. The command staff assigned to this mission conferred in the bridge briefing room of the chosen ship, the  _ Rendili _ . Commander Neyo stood opposite Thrawn at the holotable, who was leaning over some holomaps of the Naboo system.

“How much did General Gallia tell you?” Neyo asked.

Thrawn stood to his full height, not taking his eyes off the map, hand resting in a thinking position on his chin:

“She vehemently insisted you were only friends, Commander,” Thrawn calmly replied, “is that a fair assessment?”

“Only time will tell, I suppose.”

The ship came out of hyperspace just short of Naboo, its five escort ships arriving on the other side in a blockade-like stance, preparing for the oncoming Separatist fleet. In essence, the plan was to send the Pelta-class transports attached to the station empty, so as to goad the Separatist commander into chasing them to Naboo. They would use a fake holotransmission that would make it seem like the station had been fully evacuated onto those transports. Without the  _ Malevolence _ , the Separatist fleet would need to give chase to the faster and lighter Pelta-frigates. When the frigates reached Naboo, they would settle behind the blockade, which would engage the Separatist warships. Once the battle started, General Plo’s fleet was to hyperspace in behind the Separatists, allowing for an easy cleanup of the forces in tandem with the Orbital Autocannon.

Thrawn’s gunship from the Republic FOB raced back to the  _ Chimera _ . The three officers inside went over the plan once again.

“So, we’re drawing the droids into our defenses,” Neyo asked, “so we can pummel them?”

“Yes,” Thrawn confirmed, “and I also wish to test if my incident with the interdictor can be replicated.”

“I see.”

As the gunship landed in the ventral hangar, warning klaxons started blaring onboard the  _ Chimera _ , indicating an incoming enemy fleet. The TIE pilots began to climb into their fighters, and the controlled chaos that was Battle Ready Mode overtook the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to add some depth to these characters lmao
> 
> Up next: we meet the characters you might have spotted in the tags
> 
> also if you're worried about the lack of explanation about Thrawn's motives, rest assured there'll be a scene explaining it later


End file.
